News

New family arts listings website is live

We’re very pleased to hit the Go button on Fantastic for Families, a new year-round promotional campaign showcasing arts and cultural activities for families. We’d love for you to help us spread the word. Here’s the launch press release:

Unicorn Theatre

New What’s On website showcases the very best of arts & culture for families, all year round

Launching 1st October

Over 5,000 events listed so far, many of them free

Performances, workshops and activities all created especially for families

Look out for organisations with Family Arts Standards accreditation

Allows families to discover affordable, quality arts activites in their local area

Site partnership with a range of other channels, offering families more opportunities to find out about events in their area

Chances to win prizes such as a Family Experience Day at the Emma Bridgewater Factory or £500 of Theatre Tokens

The brand new Fantastic for Families website offers thousands of events across the UK for families looking for activites to enjoy together, all from trusted and approved organisers.

Events range from art, craft, dance, circus, theatre, music and much more, the list is endless! This October half-term will offer a particularly large range of unique and exciting events happening right across the UK for families to take part in together.

Can I park at the venue? Are there baby changing facilities? Is there a discount for family groups? Is the the event suitable for older family members? These are all questions that families will be asking when planning to try something new – Fantastic for Families features all of the important information that families need when searching for activities for a day out together. The site features only events that are genuinely appealing to different age-groups to enjoy together, allowing users to find the perfect event for their family, no matter it’s shape, size or interests.

You can also find over 500 organisations and venues who have pledged to meet the Family Arts Standards – a kitemark of quality for organisers who provide an exemplary welcome to families across their programme, facilities and welcome. The Standards cover the basic considerations of families visiting a cultural experience and ensure that families recieve a warm welcome on their visit.

Year-round Fantastic for Families listings replace the previous national Family Arts Festival, which took place throughout October, and featured over 17,000 events from 3,000 participating organisations, reaching over 2.2 million family members. Family members at previous events said:

“our 5 year old daughter enjoyed it as much as we did!”

“It was so nice to have something than the usual ‘kiddified’ music to go and see”

“Seriously, not just for kids”

“Such a great family event. All the adults and kids in our group had loads of fun dancing and making things”

Fantastic for Families has been designed to give families the tools they need to access the wealth of creative and cultural opportunities available to them in the UK, whether visiting somewhere new, or connecting with cultural organisations in their local area

Partnerships with a range of third-party sites, such as Hoop, Netmums and The List ensures that families can find out about what’s on through a range of different partner channels.Announcing the very first Age of Creativity Festival- Nationwide

With a focus on events and activities that are suitable for older people to take part in, Fantastic for Families is also hosting the very first Age of Creativity Festival, in association with Age UK, from 1st– 14th October. Events include jewellery making, creative writing, ballet fitness and a film festival. Creativity and culture is good for you, particularly in later life!

Look out for organisers who hold the Age Friendly Standards accreditation, showing that they are particularly accommodating of the needs of older visitors.

Fantastic For Families comes from the successful yearly Family Arts Festival hosted by Family Arts Campaign in October. Fantastic for Families provides a free listings site for organisations to sign up and post their family friendly events, whilst allowing audiences and families to search for family events of all criteria, with information about what they can expect about their visit.

The Family Arts Campaign supports cultural organisations to become family-friendly and encourages them to provide quality events and activities for families of all kinds to get involved in. It was originally devised in consultation with over 1,000 cultural professionals and 2,000 families. It is an initiative of The Albany, the Association of British Orchestras, UK Theatre, Society of London Theatre, the Independent Theatre Council, One Dance UK, the Contemporary Visual Arts Network, The Audience Agency, the Arts Marketing Association and Voluntary Arts.. It is supported using public funding through Arts Council England.

Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of activities across the arts, museums and libraries – from theatre to digital art, reading to dance, music to literature, and crafts to collections. Great art and culture inspires, brings people together and teaches us about ourselves and the world around us. In short, it makes life better. Between 2015 and 2018, is investing £1.1 billion of public money from government and an estimated £700 million from the National Lottery to help create these experiences for as many people as possible across the country.